First to jail then to the gallows

Wong Ban Chong, 55, was not just sentenced to hang, but also slapped with eight years' jail.

Judicial Commissioner Mohd Zaki Abdul Wahab sentenced the excavating equipment operator to death for murdering his estranged wife in Malaysia's Alor Star last year.

The jail sentence was for causing grievous hurt to his wife's foster daughter at the same time and place, The Star reported.

The High Court found that Wong, in his defence, had failed to raise any reasonable doubt to the charges made against him.

Wong was charged with murdering fortune teller Ung Siew Lin, 47, and voluntarily causing grievous hurt to Ms Chng Sheue Mei, 28.

The crime was committed last February.

Both cases were jointly heard before Justice Mohd Zaki.

Defence

The judge said that the accused, in his defence, had told the court that he only went to the house to meet his wife.

Wong had called Ms Ung to come out and discuss their marital problems but she refused.

He then broke into the house by forcing open the kitchen window.

Wong told the court that he was only defending himself with a parang because the foster daughter, Ms Chng, had kicked him to the ground and both she and Ms Ung were beating him up.

The judge said the court found that Wong had failed to prove that he was defending himself.

This was based on the testimonies given by his three daughters, all in their 20s.

The daughters, who were inside the house during the incident, told the court that Wong had broken into the house through the kitchen window.

The witnesses also said that they were scared and had run to the porch to save themselves.

But Wong continued to pursue them and then attacked their mother.

The judge said that there was no doubt that the injuries that caused Ms Ung's death was caused by Wong.

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